Be a what?

#random So often I hear people say “be a man” or “be a woman?” I thought about it again and I am questioning what that really means. Aren’t they already a man or woman by gender? So what exactly are we telling them to be? What does being a man or woman even look like, if there is such a look or action(s)?

It is starting to sound like a redundant expectation of living up to something that you already are. Are we really trying to tell people to be more powerful, confident, more _________ (fill in the blank), etc? Then why don’t we just say that? We tell people to be a noun (man/woman) instead of guiding their behavior toward an adjective like an “admirable” man or an “ambitious” woman, etc. I don’t know about you but I don’t know how to aspire to be what I already am – a woman.

Maybe so many people are walking around the world lost because they are continually given the vague advice of “be a man” or “be a woman.” When I hear someone say that again, I will ask them for specifics.